Life in my new house with my new family was pretty good until one morning I woke up and didn’t get my breakfast treat. In fact the food dish had disappeared completely. The next thing I knew, I was grabbed and stuffed in dat box that was used to pick me up at the shelter. In just a few minutes I was back at the VET lady’s place. M gave me a smooch and said she’d pick me up later. It was scary to have M leave me der all alone. The VET lady poked me with something and I went to sleep. When I woke up, I discovered the VET lady had kept 2 of my toothies. Doesn’t she have enough of her own, I thought. Why she need mine? Now she’s stealing toothies from the anipals that visit her.

Well, M did come back to get me. I heard VET lady say something bout dey had to pull 2 of my toothies cuz they were so bad. Also, my gums were infected. So VET lady gave M some stuff in a bottle and told her to give it to me 2 times a day. Den M was supposed to give me some sort of soft foods for 2 weeks and come back in a month to be looked at. Well, I thought, der is no way I’m going back to dat place cuz they steal toothies.

I didn’t like dat yukky stuff in the bottle at all, so I’d try to fight my peeps. I guess I just wasn’t strong enough tho cuz dey always won the fight!

Well, M says we have to somehow shorten dis story or it will go on for pages (it might anyway).

I made several trips back to dat Lady VET cuz each time I went, she said der was still infection. She had tried 3 kinds of antibiotics and even gave me a shot of Cortisone. Finally one day she said "I’m afraid Mario is one of those rare cats that might be allergic to his own tooth decay. “ She said she’d like to “refer us to a specialist that deals in animal dentistry.”

Dis was not sounding good. I didn’t understand it all, but I knew it sounded bad.

Then one day night I went to get a snack and a drink of water –but the evil food snatcher came back and snatched both my food and water. I should have suspected dat something bad was going to happen, but I didn't. (M says I not the smartest kitty they’ve ever had – guess she’s right. But she does say I'm the sweetest. he he)

The next morning my peeps grabbed me and stuffed me in dat stupid box again. Dad sat in the back seat with me and the box, while M drove this thing called a car. I wasn’t too happy until D opened the box and let me sit on his lap. I liked dat much better den being in the box thingy. It wasn’t nearly as scary sitting on dad’s lap. It seemed like we were in dat thing called a car forever. . (M says it really is only 70 miles away and it took us less den an hour.)

The man VET was kind of goofy, he he. But he was nice. He kept talking to me, petting me, and even kissed me on the head. Den he gave me a real nose tap. Yes – you read it right – a real nose tap. He he, it’s the first time I’ve had a ooman give me a nose tap with der nose! He told M dat he really loves cats. I must say I really felt special and dat he truly did love me. He told M and D he was going to take X-rays (whatever dat is) and dey should go home and wait for his call. He said I’d be there most of the day. I just knew dis was going to be a very bad day! Den he stuck me with something and I don’t remember anymore. Now M is going to take over part of the story cuz I wouldn’t understand it all anyway. Besides, I guess I was sleeping.

This is Mario’s mom talking. The Dentist explained that Mario had Stomotitis (meaning inflammation of the oral cavity) and Gingivostomatitis which is another term to describe this condition. He recommended pulling all of Mario’s teeth, but if possible, he would to try to save the 4 canines in the front. He would not know if the canines could be saved, however, until he was actually doing the surgery. He explained that it was good we brought Mario to him because it would be important to clean out the area where the 3 other teeth had been pulled. If there was even a tiny fragment of tooth chip left in his mouth, Mario would forever have problems, and the infection would probably be fatal once the it entered the blood stream.

If you would care to read more about this fatal disease, you can see Dr. Kressen’s very extensive web site, complete with many photos of actual diseased mouths, at: http://mypetsdentist.com/ Scroll to the bottom of the home page, Click on Cat Dental Care and you will find Feline Stomotitis.

Dr. Kressen stated that if he was able to save the 4 canine teeth, it would be very important to brush those teeth every single day for the remainder of Mario’s life. Well, I wasn't sure how we'd ever brush a cat's teeth, but we promised to try if he could save the 4 teeth and we'd face the brushing when we needed to face it.

This is enough for this writing. Stay tuned next week to see if the 4 canines were saved and to find out what happened next.

Noteable Timeline: Mario was adopted 10-15-08. Our local vet pulled 2 teeth on 2-24-09 and indicated it looked like he had lost 1 tooth earlier in his life via some unknown means - pulling or accidental loss. The Animal Dentist pulled more teeth on 7-29-09.

PULLING TEETH - Part 2 (Original Story Published 1-30-10)

Boy, (moving tongue around in mouth) that was some nightmare dat I just had. YIKES – dat was no nightmare. Dat very nice Dentist man stole all my toothies – well not all – I still has my fangs! I must be still dreaming, I thought. This can’t be real!

Well, I wasn’t dreaming. My mouth felt so funny with only my fangs.. Dr. Kressen and my peeps were talking about how he decided to try to save the canines since they didn’t appear to be too bad yet. He said he had cleaned out all the little toothie fragments left behind from previous dental work and cleaned the canines well. He told my peeps it was very important to brush those toothies every single day and not to miss even one day. Den he proceeded to show my peeps how to go about this. He petted me, gave me a kiss on the forehead, said he loved me, and I was such a nice boy. I even got another nose tap! Den he gently opened my lips just a little so he could get at my fangs and brushed dem with something called chicken toothpaste. Yum! It actually tasted good. Den he gave my peeps a tube of dat toothpaste, and two different kinds of medicine – a pain killer and antibiotic, and said to take dem twice a day until gone. (On no – medicine 2 times a day – no way, I thought)) He also wanted me back in 2 weeks to see how I was doing.

Now what cat likes taking medicine? Certainly not me! This is a picture of me bundled up so I wouldn’t fight my oomans on taking the nasty stuff. Yup – it was a very humiliating experience. he he - I made sure it took two oomans to give me my medicine too. I wasn't going to take the stuff without a fight!

I has to brag a little (it’s my blog) because I was a good boy with getting my 4 toothies brushed. Dat paste stuff was really tasty. My oomans even showed my pet sitter how to brush cuz dey were going camping on a long weekend. (he he – I was a good boy for her too). It’s not dat bad getting your teeth brushed cuz you don’t have to open the mouth wide – just a little to get at the teeth & gum line. The toothpaste really does taste like chicken!

Now if there is a bright side to getting your toothies pulled, it's dat you get to eat good, soft, canned food for a couple of weeks. You also get lots and lots of attention and laps to sit on. (Boy, I had my peeps at my becken call)

Den one day I was thrown in dat box thingy again (it is never a good sign of how the day will go). Oh noooooo! Not back to the Dentist man. But dis time he only looked in my mouth and said my peeps were doing a good job of brushing, but my mouth was still red, and he didn’t like the looks of dat. Take some different medicine, he said. He also told my peeps dat when the blood work came back, it showed my kidney enzymes were slightly elevated, which might have been caused from my not eating or drinking much before I had my toothies pulled. But, to be on the safe side, I should go see my regular vet and have dat checked again in a couple of weeks. He also told my peeps to bring me back again in a month so he could take another look. In the meantime my peeps were to keep brushing my toothies.

So, I had to make a couple more visits to my lady Vet. She poked me with the needle thingy and also looked in my mouth. I guess the kidney enzyme test still showed a slight elevation, but don’t worry yet. Let my system settle down and have the test taken again.

We made another trip back to the Dentist, who said – yup – still a little redness, but we’ll watch a little while longer. Maybe my immune system is still raging. Try to keep me from being stressed! (Well, the only thing causing me stress in my life is all the trips in the car to see vets!) He said wait another couple of weeks, den bring me back to him without food and he’ll take more pictures and be ready to pull the 4 canines if necessary.

Stay tuned my friends – my toothie story isn’t over yet.

If you haven’t done so yet, you might like to check out Dr. Kressen’s web site as it is very informative about dental health for all animals – even for my doggie friends http://mypetsdentist.com/

PULLING TEETH - Part 3 (Original Story Published 2-4-10)

Well, friends, if it seems like dis story has gone on and on, you are so right. It’s still going on a little bit anyway. The Dentist decided on 9-22-09 dat the 4 canines needed to be removed. My immune system doesn’t like toothies or the bacteria associated with them. So, I went to sleep again.

I has to tell you, when all your toothies are gone, your mouth feels really funny for awhile anyway. The first two days after they were pulled, I kept rolling around on the floor because it felt so funny. M said I was on pain killers for 5 days, so I wasn’t hurting. I just didn’t like the feeling of no toothies. I didn’t feel like eating much either. M was about going crazy trying to find things I’d eat. M says my Twitter friends were so very helpful with suggestions on what to try and do and so was the Dentist. My food was mashed or thinned down with cat milk for a couple of weeks. Most of my food was yummy, some not so yummy. M gave the food I didn’t like to a friend who feeds a feral kitty, and dat kitty was thankful to get it. He he – I suppose if you is very hungry, you will eat anything. After lots of days, M surprised me and put my dry kibble in the bowl. Boy, dat really tasted good and I ate it all up. He he –My peeps even broke their own rule and started sharing their fish, chicken and tuna with me. About the only thing I can’t eat now is ooman beef cuz it’s too tough for me to chew with no toothes!

Dat’s a pic of me eating my dry kibble just to prove to all my friends dat you can still eat kibble or crunchy things after you has no toothies.

When I saw the dentist again for my checkup, the redness was still der. He called a pet formulary pharmacy and had a special medication made up just for me. He had been doing research, and another vet in California (wherever dat is) had a lot of success with dat medication for kitties like me. I was on dat stuff for about 4 weeks. He he – it was chicken flavor, it really was pretty tasty. I still took it under protest tho, just cuz I don’t want peeps to think I like meds. (Please don’t tell M or the Dentist tho. It’s a matter of principal. We cats are not supposed to like medicine.)

I was just back to see the dentist about a month ago because M & D were concerned dat there was still redness way in back of my mouth. The Dentist told M and D not to worry because there was no infection. Since I was eating well, not in pain, playful, and back to being a normal kitty, he’d leave it alone. He said he could do surgery to remove all the bad tissue, but didn’t want to go dat route yet. He told my peeps dat his theory is “If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it!” (he he – I like his attitude. Don’t want no more surgery – ever!) He did take pictures of my mouth with a camera dat day so he had something to compare with if I came back again. M says it was so funny, cuz der were about 5 peeps hovering over me all trying to see in my little mouth. I didn’t think it was funny tho cuz I still don’t like anyone prying my mouth open. How would the peeps like it if 5 of us cats pried open der mouth and peered inside!

So friends, finally the end of my toothie story. M and D say I have been such a good boy throughout the 14 months this was happening. I has to admit, I was a good boy and only gave everyone a little hard time now and den – I am a cat you know, and that’s what cats are supposed to do.

I don’t know much bout money cuz I don’t have any. But M tells me dat what dey spent on my toothie problem, she and D could take two 2-week cruises. But, she always adds dat I was worth it cuz I’m such a sweet, loveable boy who brings dem lot of joy! She also tells me dat if dey run out of money, I’ll have to get a job and support dem! He he - I was telling @JessicaKorman dat one day, and she suggested I become a professional lap sitter. If you hear of any job openings, let me know. I would do a very good job and am dependable.

I want to thank all my Twitter friends for their thoughts, prayers and concerns during my toothie ordeal. You were always der for me and M and were so very helpful with suggestions. We loves you all.

I also want to thank all my faithful blog readers for listening to me go on and on about my toothies. Hopefully, I won’t be blogging about dem ever again cuz I don’t have any! He he

Notable Timeline: Maro was adopted 10-15-08. Our local vet pulled 2 teeth on 2-24-09 and indicated it looked like Mario had lost 1 tooth earlier in his life via some unknown reason. Dr. Kressen pulled all teeth except 4 canines on 7-29-09. 4 canines were pulled on 9-22-09. Last check-up trip to Dr. Kressen was 12-14-09. All was well - no more infection. Problem solved with the pulling of all toothies.

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I'm a 12-year-old, rescued kitty who became toothless at age 4 because of Stomotitis. The story of how and why I became toothless is in a tab at the top of my page.
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